Disability and the workplace

Dr Shi Wei Chu, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Founder and Chair of the Inclusion in the Workplace Research Group, UNMC

Dr Chu’s expertise is in special education and diverse needs, focusing on individuals with Neurodevelopmental disabilities and her main area of research is on inclusion and supported employment. She launched the research group Inclusion in the Workplace in the context that policy reform, especially in relation to disability, is a national priority in Malaysia. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach, members of the Research Group undertake collaborative research for special needs populations who experience mental health difficulties or learning disabilities. The Research Group has the objective of equipping the disabled with necessary skills to create sustainable employment, creating awareness and best practices for employers, developing solutions and inclusive cultures and policies for the disabled in the workforce.

A Webinar which which replaced the planned conference of June 2020 on Inclusion in the Workplace, brought together key policy stakeholders from different government ministries in the field of inclusion: social welfare, health, women and community engagement. Corporate companies will also attend this webinar and the keynote address will be given by a disabled speaker who will share his education and employment experience. One of the outcomes will be a memorandum that gathers input from participants to inform policy interventions to support people with disabilities in the workplace.

Dr Chu would like to collaborate with the Rights Lab at UNUK for cross-campus, cross-cultural research that seeks to inform policy on inclusion in the workplace. She would welcome information from a centralised EDI research space at UoN about pathways for collaborative work.